Sockets, socket sets, and socket wrenches are common types of hand tools which are used by various maintenance and construction personnel to facilitate attachment and detachment of nuts and bolts typically having hexagonal heads. Depending upon the size of the hexagonal head, an appropriately sized socket will be used to attach to the head for rotation thereof. The actual rotation can be generated either by hand using a wrench, ratchet, or otherwise, or with a power tool which generates the force necessary for rotation. Such sockets can be manufactured to correspond to shapes other than conventional hexagonal heads, and in addition, can be sized to accommodate both the U.S. and metric standards of measurement.
If a particular user of such a socket set is located or positioned such that an entire tool box or socket set can be made available for ready access to the variously sized sockets, various trays and holding mechanisms can be used to display the sockets in descending or ascending order according to size to allow the user to quickly identify and grasp the socket of interest. U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,116 discloses such a tray which displays variously sized sockets for access by a user.
However, certain maintenance and construction personnel are required to be mobile and as a result are limited in the quantity of tools which can be carried about the work site. Various means have therefore been developed to allow a worker to carry certain specifically defined tools through the use of a utility belt or the like. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,512,165 discloses a personal tool box which can be attached to a utility belt and, through the use of a plurality of shelves, can pivot about a portion of the tool box to allow the user to access variously sized tools including sockets. However, such a system is bulky and prone to inadvertent disengagement of the tools and sockets from the tool box.
Alternatively, a loop or strand of cable or wire can be formed to allow for the sockets to be strung end-to-end on the loop with a means being provided to close the loop to retain the sockets thereon. U.S. Pat. No. 5,139,144 discloses such a system wherein the loop can be carried about by the user. However, since the sockets are strung end-to-end on the loop, unless the socket of interest is the one closest to the end of the loop, a number of sockets will necessarily have to be removed to allow access to the socket of interest, which in turn will require the undesired sockets to be restrung upon the loop after the desired socket is removed. This necessarily results in a slow and frustrating process.
The problems indicated above especially manifest themselves when the maintenance or construction worker is required to act quickly, and therefore does not have the luxury of removing a number of sockets strung end-to-end upon a loop, or searching through a number of different compartments to find the socket of interest. For example, a maintenance worker required to keep a production machine on-line quite often has to make quick decisions for quick repairs which therefore requires that the worker not waste time in searching for the tool required for the given job. A system which would allow the worker to gain quick identification and access of the tool or socket of interest would therefore result in a more efficient worker, and ultimately in lower cost of maintenance or manufacture in the product or system with which the worker is associated.
Moreover, it would be advantageous to provide such a socket retaining mechanism in a manner and form which is inexpensive to manufacture and maintain.